Pages

Monday, October 17, 2011

Always Icecream Review for TOS

If you have to stand in line behind your girls to get time on your own computer, then Always Icecream will have your girls begging to "play"! It's geared toward girls age 7-10 and I can tell you it's a HUGE hit with my 10 year old! She's been finishing school as soon as possible each day to maximize her time for Always Ice Cream. My daughter's geography skills have really improved as a result of her "playing" and she's WAY more motivated to quiz over math facts if she's earning something in return! The creators of Always Icecream are geniuses. They know what makes girls tick. The chance to buy a house, pick out furniture, upgrade your house, decorate, etc. are the types of things your daughter can buy with all the ice cream $coops she earns playing the myriad educational games on Always Icecream. That plus she soon acquires her own social network much like a kid version of facebook. (This can be managed in the parent account.)

Not long ago, when we actually had a real pet, I was lamenting the fact that our kids were always quick to take care of their webkinz and feed their virtual fish, whereas our real dog got short shrift. Always Ice Cream has capitalized on our kids' affinity for cyberspace and made a fun online gaming and social experience educational, as well. Kudos to them! I love that I never have to ask my daughter to play, she just wants to.

Always Icecream has some wonderful learning games that teach and/or reinforce multiplication/division math facts, adding fractions, reducing fractions, US geography, European geography, anatomy, Bible trivia, Bible verse games, and more. Your daughter can even test her knowledge about dog breeds! My daughter is very proud of being a diamond girl on anatomy and the states game. This means she has mastered those games on a particular set of levels. When you play educational games, you earn $coops which can either be redeemed for virtual stuff for your virtual world or to play non-educational games. It's rigged so that your child will spend much more time on the educational games than the non-educational games, which are just good clean fun like dressing your Victorian paper doll or hatching a new pet.

Is it just me, or are you sometimes concerned that these types of online games are more fun than educational? I'm usually a little doubtful about how much learning is taking place. Always Icecream takes the guess work out of keeping tabs on the content of your daughter's play. You can easily check a summary of her activities online by clicking on the "parent summary" at the top right of the screen. I learned that my daughter has earned bronze medals in multiplication and addition levels 1-9 and 1-12 respectively, synonyms, state capitals, and internet quiz. She's earned silver medals on quizzes over classical music and countries in Europe, and a gold medal on the Bible quiz. That' s my girl! She made "diamond girl" in basic anatomy levels 1-32, US presidents levels 1-6 and states of the US levels 1-46. I also learned that she's watched skads of educational videos including oddly enough How Toilet Paper is Made. Can't say I've ever wondered about that, but at least she's learning! You can also choose to have Always Icecream send you weekly email updates on everything your daughter is learning.

We've been VERY happy with Always Icecream. My daughter is already trying to recruit our across the street neighbor to join so they can be virtual friends, as well. Members are allowed to give their friends a one month FREE trial here. The subscription rates depend upon the term of subscription. Personally, I think $29.99 for 1 year is a bargain! Or you can pay monthly for $4.99 a month.

2 comments:

Great Review! My daughter (age 8) is not a strong reader. While she liked the look of the site and playing the games initially, it got too hard for her to earn scoops for her pets. We'll revisit the site when she's a bit older.

I didn't get to review this because my daughter is 17. BUT, I just received an email from the makers of Always Ice Cream about the release of a program for BOYS. Aaaah! I am so excited. I've been reading a few of the reviews to make sure this counterpart program will be as good as I think before I actually buy it. :) I tried it myself last night and was impressed. Both of my boys, 8 and 12, will get to use it. I think they will love it!

LinkWithin

I'm an on-the-run mom to 6 kids who studied and taught exercise science in a previous life. I love all things running, nutrition, and health-related. I usually run at zero dark thirty in the morning and am often quite hungry before, during, and after my run, but I live a rich, full, blessed life with my children, family, and friends. My faith in God is my anchor, and looking to Him and His promises allows me to live fully even when life circumstances are difficult. While running gives me an appetite, my desire is to hunger and thirst for righteousness more than for physical food.

Thanks for stopping by!

I'm a mom to six brilliant, adorable, and hilarious kids. Their dad and I are recently divorced and I have entered a new era of single parenthood. I'm still the same person, with many of the same interests, though I'm no longer homeschooling my kids. I've been doing a lot of running over the last year, culminating in two recent ultra-marathon trail runs, and have registered for my first Ironman triathlon which will be in Boulder, CO August 3, 2014. I still love to read and can be found experimenting in my kitchen on most days. My kids keep me humble and they keep me laughing! I am blessed.